Coach Bob Huggins and every player from the 1992 University of Cincinnati men's basketball team attended a25th-anniversary reunion gala Friday night at Great Wolf Lodge, near Kings Island amusement park. For Huggins, the 100-percent player turnout spoke volumes about one of the most beloved teams in recent Cincinnati sports history.

"There's probably nowhere else in the country where you can get 15 guys all to come back," Huggins said. "You can get most of them, but you're not gonna get every one of them. They're great people."

Huggins, now the head coach at West Virginia, was wearing his customary black zip-up windbreaker with gold 'WV' logo. Huggins also sported an offseason goatee.

"The camaraderie we had is, I think, what made us so good," Huggins said. "You think about that camaraderie lasting for 25 years. I'm sitting down in the room and they're all coming in, and it was like it happened a couple years ago."

One of Huggins' best ex-players, Martin, helped organize the reunion. Martin now is an assistant under Huggins at West Virginia, thus neither Huggins nor Martin could attend the in-season (Feb. 4) reunion of the ’92 Final Four team at a UC game. Van Exel also could not attend in February, as he is an assistant coach with the NBA Memphis Grizzlies.

The 1992 UC Final Four team regroups for a team photo, lined up in their positions from the original '92 team picuture.(Photo: The Enquirer/Tom Groeschen)

Van Exel walked with aid of a cane Friday, after recent knee surgery.

Martin said that more than 400 people attended Friday's event, a dinner at $150 per person. Proceeds will be targeted for a “Motivate To Graduate” scholarship fund for players from the 1992 team to finish their college degrees. Motivate To Graduate is a non-profit organization directed by Blount, with about three or four players from the ’92 team still hoping to obtain degrees.

"For me, it's just a brotherhood," Blount said. "I was blessed to go on and play in the NBA on a lot of different teams, but this team right here was special because we all believed in each other. It was a special time. I don't know too many teams that, from 1 to 15, still keep in contact with each other."

Entering the 1991-92 season, UC had not reached the NCAA Tournament since 1977 and had last made the Final Four in 1963. The unexpected 1992 Final Four run galvanized Greater Cincinnati in a way that only sports teams can, reminiscent of the Big Red Machine teams of 1975-76, the 1990 Reds and the Bengals' 1981 and 1988 Super Bowl seasons.

UC went 29-5 in the 1991-92 season, losing 76-72 to Michigan in the national semifinals in Minneapolis. The Bearcats have not returned to the Final Four since.

Friday night was mainly about 1992, but the event also became one big UC basketball reunion. Players from the 1961-62 NCAA title teams were in the house, including Tom Thacker, George Wilson and Tony Yates. Yates was UC head coach before Huggins took over in the 1989-90 season.

Former Bearcats in Friday's crowd also included Lou Banks, Andre Tate, Eric Hicks, Junior Johnson, Keith Gregor and Steve Sanders. Former team doctors, trainers and managers also attended, plus many former and current UC staffers including athletic director Mike Bohn.

MORE SATURDAY: The 1992 team was scheduled to visit Children’s Hospital on Saturday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., with Nike having provided backpacks to give to the children.

A team autograph session was scheduled for Saturday from 3-6 p.m. at the Original Montgomery Inn in Montgomery. The autograph session, at $20 per person with a two-item limit, also will benefit the aforementioned causes.